The Line: Alberta Podcast

In this episode of The Line: Alberta podcast, a closer look at Alberta's Year of the Referendum. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has set October 19th as referendum day, and she has nine questions to put to Albertans on issues related to immigration and the constitution. That ballot will also include a question on separation, the premier says, if separatists are successful in their petition campaign.

The premier has also indicated there could be another question added if a separate petition succeeds: whether to once again restrict coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rockies. We'll speak with Alberta country music artist Corb Lund who has been active in efforts to protect Alberta waterways from the impact of coal mining. He's spearheading the Water Not Coal petition campaign, which is now officially underway. We'll find out what drove him to take up this cause, how the Alberta government has flip-flopped on coal policy, and the role that grassroots activism has had on this issue.

We'll also take a deep dive into Alberta's political landscape and the fascinating backdrop to this new referendum campaign season. We'll be joined by veteran pollster Quito Maggi, who is president and CEO of Mainstreet Research, to discuss their latest numbers that offer a surprising assessment of the current strengths of the main provincial and federal parties, and where public sentiment is at when it comes to Alberta separation and out relationship with the rest of Canada.

It's been three months since the Alberta government controversially legislated an end to a bitter teachers' strike, but have conditions in the classroom - which were key issues in the labour dispute - improved at all?

The Alberta Teachers Association has released a comprehensive new survey of its members, showing widespread frustration and pessimism about the state of the province's classrooms. This comes as the Alberta government has announced its plans to try and address issues around classroom complexity.

In this episode of The Line Alberta podcast, Rob Breakenridge speaks with Alberta Teachers Association president Jason Schilling about the state of public education in Alberta and whether there's an opportunity now to begin to address the challenges that have been festering and mounting for years around class sizes and the complexity of learning needs. The strike may be in the rear view mirror, but the issues and pressures that led to it are still very much with us.

Between the Alberta-Ottawa pipeline MOU and the growing push to diversify Canada's export markets, 2026 could prove to be a key year for the oil and gas industry. Still, though, there remains some uncertainty on the policy front and questions linger about whether there's enough political will and determination to make progress and really capitalize on this moment.

In this episode of the Line Alberta podcast, Rob Breakenridge speaks with Tristan Goodman, president of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada. We'll look at new numbers showing Canada set record production levels in 2025, and what that tells us about the strength of the industry heading into a year of trade and economic uncertainty.

We'll also discuss the determination to find new export markets for Canadian oil and gas and whether that will be enough to get some of these proposed projects - like a new pipeline - over the finish line. Plus, we'll examine some of the lingering policy uncertainty hanging over these big decisions, and what impact that could have on major investment decisions.

The topic of Alberta separation has been thrust into the national spotlight, amid the ongoing petition campaign by separatists to force a referendum, and reports about possible U.S. involvement. We've heard provocative comments from Trump's treasury secretary and other Republican and MAGA figures. We've also had new reports about Alberta separatist delegations to Washington, D.C. to seek out meeting with Trump administration officials

The group Forever Canadian was launched last year to either head off a referendum or beat the separatists to the punch. However, subsequent legislative tweaks allowed the Alberta government to bypass the duplicate petition rule, and bypass the "no unconstitutional questions" rule to make sure the separatists could proceed with their petition (under the new lower signature threshold, of course).

We speak with Forever Canadian founder - and former Alberta MLA and cabinet minister - Thomas Lukaszuk about why Premier Smith went out of her way to accommodate the separatists, what she needs to say and do about possible foreign interference, the concerns about this moment of political uncertainty, and where this is all headed. Forever Canadian is now shifting from a petition-oriented cause to one now focused on defeating separatism at the ballot box.

In this episode of The Line Alberta podcast, host Rob Breakenridge explores two big topics of interest right now in Alberta: why the U.S. is suddenly so interested in a possible Alberta independence referendum, and what it's going to take to meaningfully diversify the export markets for Alberta oil so that we're less reliant on the Americans.

First, a conversation with National Observer columnist Max Fawcett on the current state of debate over Alberta separatism and to what extent we should worry about American interference. Last week's Trump's treasury secretary went out of his way to mention a possible Alberta separation vote, and other MAGA and Republican figures have been talking openly about Alberta becoming the 51st state. What do we need to hear from Alberta's premier about this potential meddling and just what the plan is when it comes to a possible referendum?

Also, amid the broader conversation around Canada's evolving trade relationship with the United States, we'll take a closer look at how that impacts Alberta's oil exports and how realistic it is to quickly and significantly increase exports to new markets. Much of that revolves around a potential new pipeline to the west coast, but there are still many hurdles to that project. We'll hear from Richard Masson, executive fellow at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy. He's also a former CEO at the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission - an agency that seems suddenly relevant in the Alberta government's strategy.